On a spring day in 1935, eight women gather at Fefu’s New England home. A gracious host, Fefu organizes a weekend of camaraderie as well as work: The friends are rehearsing a charity presentation for a local school. But this gathering lays bare past heartaches and secrets among the women, from heartbreak, to emotional and physical exhaustion, to devastating illness. At the center of this group is Fefu, a woman who is both powerful yet broken, belittling women as she cares for and nurtures her friends. Fefu finds herself forced into a reckoning with Julia--her dear friend who was mysteriously psychologically injured when a hunter shot a deer. Fefu is desperate to let her mind rest, and knows that Julia holds the secret to that peace, a revelation that comes through a tragic final confrontation.
Fefu and Her Friends is a feminist exploration of women’s roles and relationships--how they support each other, how they injure each other, and how they can create a community together. Notable for its experimental staging in which the audience moves through the theatre building to view different scenes, Fefu and Her Friends is a dynamic story of women, friendship, and the secrets that bind them together.
Fefu and Her Friends guide sections
